does this "need" to be done or will the boat be fine? <BR> <BR>I don't notice anything on the water, but you can visibly see a slight bend in the strut, which in turn causes resistance on the prop shaft. My mechanic says you should be able to spin your prop with one finger while the boat is dry?? is this accurate? <BR> <BR>Basically my concern is I can fix the bent strut for $1500 ish. Which is a lot of money to me. But I don't want to end up a year or 2 later paying 5k for a new tranny. <BR> <BR>Like I said no visible symptoms on the water. no vibration, etc <BR>thoughts?

You can get a brand new strut for around $250 and 2-3 hours of labor. And I have never seen a boat that you can turn the prop with one finger, you need a little resistance. <BR> <BR>I would change mechanics and/or get a second opinion.

my strut is located directly below my engine I think. I'm having mechanic issues right now. There are 2 in town that are recommended. One is a Performance boat specialist supposedly. My problem with him is the one time I took my old boat there for a tuneup, I left with an $800 invoice including his time "consulting" with a fiberglass company. All I asked for was a tuneup... The other one, is really nice and recommended a by a good friend of mine. But every time I take my boat in he's like "well I don't really work on V drives so I'm having to learn as I go". This is my first V drive so after a few visits with him I went back to the other guy...but this other guy (the performance boat specialist) works on the Ennen Brothers boat so I think he knows what he's doing I just was thrown off by my first visit with him for 800 bones...and now he wants to charge $1500 for what you say is $250 part and 3 hours labor...

+1 on not being able to spin the prop with one finger. I have NEVER seen that.

x2 for finding someone else. You may have to drive a little but it sounds like you would be saving yourself some money in the end. It is only a matter of time before one of these guys screws something up or screws you over.

The cutlass bearing on your strut will give pretty hefty resistance when dry...definatly not a one finger job. <BR> <BR>Changing the strut would involve pulling the propshaft, removing the old strut, resealing and installing the new, then re-installing the prop shaft. A engine alignment check and adjustment should also be in order. <BR> <BR>Assuming the was no dramatic damage or major alignment issues, I would bill that job at 4 hours total.

You can do it its not that hard. call skidim for the best price.

It will take out the shaft bushing if you leave it. I dont know about one finger but mine turns pretty easy. If I grab it with one hand, I can turn it easily. Ive seen the struts staightened, they're rather soft, but it just depends how bad it is. If someone can get everything aligned correctly it might be able to be saved. Still have to pull the propshaft though. <BR> <BR>(Message edited by wake_upppp on February 20, 2010)

I did it last year. Pretty straight forward but you will be upside down on your head in the side locker tightening the bolts. I did not need to remove the prop shaft. The strut just slide off the back of the shaft. I would recommend you get a friend to help with the bolts as it is a little..actually a lot easier to have someone in the boat and someone under it. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>You will also need a prop puller. While you are at it, you may as well re-prop it with an Acme. <BR> <BR>I feel you on finding a good mechanic. Somehow my $200 quoted winterization ended up $500 and the only reason it wasn't $800 was because I wouldn't let him replace my slightly noisy blower and my brand new batteries the "won't hold a charge" but actually do. <BR> <BR>(Message edited by bakes5 on February 20, 2010)

^^^ That is true you usually can leave the shaft in to replace, but if you're trying to straighten, it'll have to come out. You will actually use the prop shaft and the flange where it mounts to the v-drive or tranny in a direct drive, to align the damaged strut.

Are you sure its even bent? Is the mechanic just saying its bent because he cant turn the prop with one finger? Find a real inboard mechanic and get a second opinion.

Unbolt the coupling and pop it loose. See if the shaft jumps sideways. If you wriggle the lose coupling end the total amount of play, up-down-left and right should be centered on the trans side coupling. In other words you should be able to move the loose shaft end the same amount of distance past the fixed coupling edges N,S.E&amp;W. With the coupling weight off it the shaft should be centered in the hull tube. <BR> <BR>Those things (struts) are pretty soft bronze. If it's only bent a little grasp a chunk of 8x8 and give it a good smack. Might straighten right up. <BR>Bet you a fifth of Crown that it does. <BR> <BR>Experience helps here, knowing what to look for in shaft tube penetration and engine alignment. But labor VS labor you wont hurt anything by romancing her back into shape. <BR> <BR>You will need some pro help most likely and I don't advocate typical shade tree stuff. But this is different.

Please dont "smack" it with ANYTHING! Bad advice. You will risk cracking the resin and gelcoat around the base of the strut and the bolts. You want to figure out a way to put light, even pressure where its bent. <BR> <BR>(Message edited by wake_upppp on February 21, 2010)

pull the shaft and strut and take them to a prop shop. they will inspect and straighten if possible. make sure you inspect the bearings in the strut. if you've been running out of alignment for a while, might as well replace the bearings. easy and cheap to do while its apart.

I'm pretty sure the shaft bushing is worn, that's what prompted this whole deal. The mechanic who doesn't really work on Vdrives pointed it out to me and that's where I started considering going back to the other guy because he was baffled at how to removed the prop shaft from this boat...He said it looked like he had to remove the Vdrive <BR> <BR>03 supra launch ssv for reference if anybody has input to that <BR> <BR>the guy who supposedly doesn't know vdrives was recommended to me by one of my buddies who probably has one of the nicest boats in my area. That's really weird. Then when I take my boat in there he's scratchin his head

As others have stated you should have a look and see how easy or difficult it may be to do yourself. I have a DD so the situation is obviously different but if you can get access to the strut bolts do it yourself. I had to replace mine a few years ago and it's not a hard project at all. Mine had a pretty good bend in it so I just replaced it altogether and it got me on the water faster as well. Good Luck!

The strut is made of cast nibral (soft to say the least,as we know with props of the material) <BR>you can staighten but only if its within a an quarter of an inch. any more it must replaced it will come with new cutlas bearings.all boats drives d or v with a "wetted" bearing, shaft should be able to turn within 36in lbs or 3ft lbs <BR>V drive shaft alingment is difficult due to location of adjustments, we charge 180.00 just for that. when you have the shaft removed have a runout check performed on it. If you find washers between the strut and mounting area,remember were they are in respect to the mounting holes, these are there because the angle <BR>of shaft to strut is waaaay out and the manurfacture said eh this will do. <BR>there are a couple of tools needed prop puller, <BR>shaft remover tool, coupler tool <BR>A good insurance co will cover submerged object <BR>damadge. Never have a mechanic work on your boat <BR>whose age is younger than the lenth of the vessel. those who know, know were to go.

i like that saying "never trust a mech whose age is younger than boat length" <BR> <BR>well i just got off a 47 nordhavn, and i'm only 32!!! <BR> <BR>A very good customer's of mine

I would replace the strut. Its a minimal cost and proper alignment is crucial. <BR> <BR>I can spin my prop with 2 fingers when it's dry. Aside from the cutlass bearing resistance, a single hand should be able to spin the prop with no real effort.